2014 Work Plans Released

The Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance has released 2014 IATT Work Plans for each of its four priority issue areas  Healthy Ecosystems, Working Waterfronts, Clean Coastal and Ocean Waters, and Disaster-Resilient Communities.  These plans outline the tasks the GSAA’s Issue Area Technical Teams will pursue in 2014 through collaboration with GSAA partners and other stakeholders to implement the Governors’ Action Plan . The 2014 Work Plans promote:

Environmental Sustainability

• Researching valuation studies that economically quantify the benefit of South Atlantic habitats.
• Identifying opportunities for the GSAA to support prevention or remediate existing invasive species introductions.
• Coordinating state and federal efforts to improve modeling of loading coefficients for point and non-point sources of nitrogen in coastal ecosystems.
• Releasing a regional compendium of Best Management Practices for point and non-point source pollution controls.

Disaster Preparedness

• Coordinating federal and state resources to support long-term Post-Disaster Recovery Planning efforts for local communities.
• Creating public-private partnerships to support local business recovery planning and identify ways to leverage opportunities for expedited recovery.

Strong Economies

• Streamlining management efforts by compiling accurate regional data layers of priority estuarine habitats, biological resources, and coastal uses, and providing both the business community and coastal managers access to this information through the GSAA Coast and Ocean Portal.
• Highlighting areas that experience chronic navigational problems due to sedimentation or other navigational hindrances that could be alleviated by dredging.
• Creating an inventory of critical working waterfronts sites to ensure economic viability while preserving traditional uses, including national defense.

Please contact the GSAA Coordinator, Kristine Cherry, to learn more about these priorities and projects or find out how to get involved.